My Dear Children, Sisters and Brothers,
I would like to thank all of you for participating in last Sunday's Pothu Yogam, for passing the accounts for the year 2009 and approving the budget for this year. I think we had a productive discussion about our future Church. Once again I use this op-portunity to thank you for all your valuable suggestions. My friends, I would like to remind you of our responsibilities – our Faith background goes back to 2000 years. Since we are blessed to have this ancient faith, it is our duty to pass on the same to the coming generations and to the world in which we live.
Today's Gospel is the parable of the Wicked Tenants. The land lord of the vineyard, in the parable, greatly desires to take into possession the fruits of his vineyad. He sends several servants; and finally his own son. No one succeeds in bringing to the owner the flavorful fruits of the vineyard: the wine. It is called breach of contract. We are talking about the sense of responsibility, the recognition that every privilege we enjoy comes with a price tag. It is a call for responsibility and accountability in our dealings with God, which include our dealings with our fellow human beings. Jesus directed the parable at the Jewish leadership of his day. The parable has a lot to teach us about stewardship. We have all received life and everything from God. Life is given to us in trust. We are expected to cultivate and manage this life in such a way that it bears good fruit - fruit that we can present to God the owner of our lives on the day of reckoning.
My brethren, what kind of fruits might God expect from us? God tells us through prophet Isaiah (5:1-7) that ?he expected it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. It had the appearance of growth, the outward show of fruit, but the fruit was worth nothing. Fruit is always to be interpreted as acts of love, justice, goodness, and faith. This is not what God found. "He expected justice, but saw bloodshed; right-eousness, but heard a cry!" The leaders of the time of Jesus forgot their real position 'stewards', and they considered themselves as 'owners' of the vineyard. If we look at our Talents as gifts of God with a built-in purpose, we‘ll consistently ask how we can best use them to build up the Kingdom. If we look at them as ours, as if we‘re the owners not the stewards, then we'll use them above all to build up OUR Kingdom instead of God's. Moreover, if we think in this way, the more talented we are, the greater the risk will be that we'll be overcome with pride; our talents will begin to divide us from others, making us think that we are superior to all. Let us pray today for the wisdom and the courage never to abuse our God given rights but rather to make a judicious use of all the privileges and opportunities that He willingly offers us.
Fr. Ligory Johnson Philips
Vicar
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